FCC filing reveals Apple still working on Apple TV-shaped NFC, Bluetooth LE device

A new listing on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's regulatory database reveals Apple is still working on an unannounced product equipped with near-field technology that first surfaced in September of 2016.

The latest update concerns a device with the model number A1846, with the documents released including a regulatory label in an FCC drawing. The filing is in general very similar to another database listing uncovered last year, and since the newer model number is incremented by two compared to last time, it strongly suggests this is an update of the same device.

The data on the regulatory label is almost identical, except the stock keeping unit (SKU) is JR2 instead of JR1, the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) has changed from 3133 to 3137, and the model number. The diagram is also very similar to last time, but rather than showing the security screws and the edge of the device's base, the image cuts the base edge off partway through the screw heads.

Just as with the previous version of the device, it has a power draw of 100mA and a peak of 700mA, between 5.5V and 13.2V. The documentation also mentions testing of Bluetooth LE and near-field communication, though like last time it doesn't include Wi-Fi, continuing the theory either Apple is reusing an existing device design or it lacks Wi-Fi completely.

Also as mentioned in the previous report, the diagram points to to a set-top box similar in appearance and dimensions to the fourth-generation Apple TV, but the power requirements suggest that it is something different, with radically different power demands.

AppleInsider's contacts within Apple corporate have refused to comment on the device.

Due to requests for confidentiality filed with the FCC, relatively few documents and little in the way of information about the unnamed device have been published.